Turquoise Jewelry
There is a large amount of authentic, unique and beautiful Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry in the Albuquerque area. Located in Old Town and the surrounding areas, there are numerous authentic stores that have been recommended by locals and have an extensive history to back their claim of being a trustworthy seller.
The Native American Indians of Southwestern United States, Santo Domingo and Navajo Nations have been making Jewelry with Turquoise for thousands of years prior to the early settlers coming to this region of the country. Eventually, the Indians of the Southwestern United States began putting albuquerque jewelry stores into Silver as the public became aware of the value and beauty that this precious stone brought to a piece of Jewelry when set in a piece of Navajo Silverwork.
During this period, many of the Indians were making Jewelry for their own use and then trading it to others. This was a very early form of trade and it did not take long for the public to realize that this combination of beautiful blue stone and fine Navajo Silverwork was an appealing gift for all occasions.
Albuquerque Turquoise Jewelry
Phase One Antique Indian Jewelry is extremely rare and highly sought after by a very large number of collectors as it represents the early days of the Jewelry trade and has its own character to it. This is a period in time when the Traders had not yet brought in the modern forms of tools to work with the Jewelry.
When the Traders did bring in the new tools, they soon found out that the Indians had a lot of experience working with the Jewelry and their skill level increased. This was a period of development for the Craft of making Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry and the quality of this Jewelry increased greatly.
Once the Indian Traders realized the potential of this Jewelry to be a successful business, they set up production shops along Route 66 in order to accommodate the demand from tourists that came to Santa Fe and other tourist towns in the Southwest. This is when the first boom for the Jewelry industry took place and it was not long before it was a mainstay of the souvenir trade in the Grand Canyon and throughout the American Southwest.
There are two types of Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry in the market today, both originating from Southwestern American Indian Countries. The first type is Navajo or Zuni Turquoise which is produced by the Navajo and Zuni Native American Indians from the Southwestern United States. This is a very important Jewelry item to the Navajo and Zuni people as it is a traditional style that has been passed down from one generation to another and it is in high demand by serious Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry collectors.
The second type of Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry is Carico Lake Turquoise which is produced by the Nevada Turquoise mines and this is a very bright and vibrant blue/green coloration with golden brown matrix. This type of Turquoise is very hard and takes a very high polish and is highly valued by serious Southwestern Turquoise Jewelry Collectors.
